Why have 100 million users been locked out of WhatsApp in Brazil?

Over 100 million Whatsapp users in Brazil were affected after the messaging platform was suspended for failing to handover information related to a criminal investigation.

The messaging platform and the country are at odds over allowing Brazilian officials to read the messages - something WhatsApp says is impossible as the chats are fully encrypted and the messages can only be read by the sender and receiver.

The instant messaging app was blocked for 72 hours after Marcel Maia Montalvao, a judge in remote northeastern state of Sergipe ordered the telecom providers to do so. The details of the criminial investigation in question has been kept under wraps so far.

In March this year, a senior Facebook staffer in Latin America was detained and held after officials accused the social media platform of withholding information that was important for drug trafficking and organised crime investigations, The Independent reported.